codeigniter nodejs and nowjs integration

[eluser]Jojje[/eluser]
I am trying to integrate nodejs and nowjs with codeigniter framework, As I dont have time to rewrite the whole site I want to check if a user is logged in. I am using ion_auth and I am storing the session in db.

Client js:

Code:

var session_id = $.cookie('sc_session');

$("form").submit(function() {
    now.distributeMessage($("textarea").val(),session_id);
});

now.receiveMessage = function(message){
    $("body").append("<br>" + message);
};

Heres the nodejs server code:

Code:

everyone.now.distributeMessage = function(message,session_cookie) {
    exec('php index.php user_session decrypt ' + encodeURIComponent(session_cookie),
    function (error, stdout, stderr) {
        var parts = stdout.split(';');
        var session_id = parts[1].split(':')[2];
        var query = 'select * from sc_sessions where session_id=' + session_id;
        client.query(query, function (err, results, fields) {
            if (results) {
                everyone.now.receiveMessage(str);
            }
        });
    });
};

And here is the controller called by nodejs:

Code:

<?php if (!defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');

class User_session extends CI_Controller
{
  public function __construct()
  {
    parent::__construct();
    if (!$this->input->is_cli_request()) {
        redirect('index');
    }
  }

  public function decrypt($session_id)
  {
    $this->load->library('encrypt');
    $session_id = urldecode($session_id);
    echo $this->encrypt->decode($session_id);
  }
}

It is working and i can log the user_data to the console from the session in database, and it calls the everyone.now.receiveMessage function properly.

I have three questions regarding this:

1) there are rows inserted into the sc_sessions db table with a session_id but with empty user_data, user_agent and ip 0.0.0.0. One row each time the form is submitted.

What is causing this and how do i fix it?

I know that there is a problem with ajaxcalls and codeigniter sessions.

Is there a way to see if the request was made with websockets?

3) Is there a better method of doing this?

Any help appreciated as I am stuck on this.

George